Meri Nimmo is a Bollywood film starring Anjali Patil and Karan Dave, directed by Rahul Shanklya and produced by Aanand L. Rai. The film was released directly on Eros’ streaming service Eros Now. The film’s music has been composed by two composers, one of which we get to hear once every year (at least), and one who we are only hearing for the second time since he debuted in bollywood! The former being Krsna Solo, and the latter being Mangesh Dhakde (who debuted with four amazing songs in ‘Hawaizaada’ in 2015). Expecting some good music, especially because it is an Anand Rai production!

Krsna’s part of the album opens with a sweet retro sounding song Bulbula, which resembles Vishal-Shekhar’s ‘Dil Kaagzi’ (Gippi) in every aspect. The arrangements are similar waltzy arrangements, with the mandolin and flutes. The composition is of the same lilting type, and Paroma Das Gupta even tries to sound like Neeti Mohan (and succeeds). The only place this song falls flat, is the composition. The mukhda is so painfully repetitive, the saccharine nature of the rest of the song too, can’t make up for it. It was nice to hear something from Krsna though, since he only appears once or twice a year!
His second song, Yeh Bhi Beet Jaayega, fares much better. A simple piano starts the song, and this song too is in the retro zone. This time though, the composition is more eventful, and Sukriti Kakar’s vocals are beautiful. Raj Shekhar’s lyrics are sweet, as was required for this movie. The strings interlude creates a grand feel, and the antara continues the sweetness of the song. The thing is, I don’t think I’ll be listening to these songs again in the future — they just aren’t that memorable.
Mangesh Dhakde, returning three and a half years after his debut in ‘Hawaizaada’, presents Tumse Hi by Javed Ali, a good composition, but just that. I loved the sarangi and mandolin; they create a soothing effect. It seems like Mangesh has stretched the composition at places instead of getting to the hookline early. The hookline itself has a nice old Bollywood touch, with that amazing nuance by Javed Ali. Javed Ali too, doesn’t sound at his best, with an awkward coarseness in his otherwise silky voice. Raj Shekhar’s lyrics though, are incredible.

Overall, a passable album. Expected much, much more from these two composers. Still, give this album a listen. Chances are, you will find one song that you’ll enjoy, but only for the duration it plays.

Hate Story IV Is a Bollywood thriller (cough cough, ahem ahem) starring Urvashi Rautela, Karan Wahi, Vivan Bhatena and Ihana Dhillon, directed by Vishaal Pandya, and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Vivek Bhatnagar. The film has music by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Mithoon, Tony Kakkar and Baman-Chand. Now all of these composers have been working with T-Series for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean I expect too much from the album! The reason being that the ‘Hate Story’ franchise has never been strong on music, no matter how popular it has been.

Tanishk Bagchi’s remake spree which seems to be inexorable, continues just as strongly as it had started off. I can’t even remember when it started. ‘Humma’? ‘Tamma’? Who knows. But now he gets to Himesh Reshammiya’s bank of songs. The producers browse for a moment through Himesh’s repertoire, and finally pick out two of his songs, for Tanishk to recreate. Tanishk, reluctantly, complies. One of the recreations has backfired terribly — Aashiq Banaya Aapneends up being a lazy club number, in which Neha Kakkar lazes around as if she’s reciting a poem instead of singing a song. Tanishk’s too loud programming stuns the ears, and the way he uses Himesh’s voice is terrible. Tanishk never does a remake without having Tapas Roy play the hook of the song on a mandolin or some other ethnic string instrument, and he does that here too, just increasing the heard-before-ness of the song. Manoj Muntashir’s lyrics are almost the only worthwhile stuff in the song. The second one, Naam Hai Mera, at least has good vocals and music, and if you forget that the essence and beauty of the original song, which was soulful, has been demolished, you will like it. Neeti’s powerful voice luckily propels this one to where it is, and Tanishk’s EDM is refreshing. It is the lyrics here, that spoil the song.
Moving on to the original numbers, Arko’s Boond Boond is the best of the lot, with a nice Latino vibe to it, but it is not all that innovative either. It sounds like Arko was trying to recreate the type of songs Bollywood made in 2006-2008, when we were obsessed with Latin American music. Jubin’s voice doesn’t suit the song a lot, but Neeti saves the day (again), while the lyricists Manoj Muntashir and Sanjay Gupta (the filmmaker??) have nothing much to do except search through old Bollywood songs and put together all the clichéd phrases they could find.
Mithoon’s first song of the year is highly disappointing — Tum Mere Ho tries to be a ‘Sanam Re’-esque love song, but ends up being sleazy and lazy. The vocalists Jubin and Amrita Singh only increase the laziness with their lazy voices, making me too lazy to write a review for the song. The only good thing here, are the percussions in the interlude. That’s a nice touch.
If that song was lazy, wait till you hear Mohabbat Nasha Hai, a typical Tony Kakkar cry-fest. But though his previous cry fests like ‘Khuda Bhi’ (Ek Paheli Leela) and ‘Mile Ho Tum Humko’ (Fever) have been quite good, this one, being a mishmash of all of them, and with the same boring beats, is just plain boring. In one of the versions, I can at least listen to Neha Kakkar when her part comes (she sings better here than she sang ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’), but in the Male Version I don’t even have that liberty. Oh well.
The other best song of the album, at par with Arko’s song, happens to be Baman-Chand’s Bhatt-ish melody Badnaamiyan. The Male Version by Armaan Malik fares much better, and that’s the one that is the best of the album. Armaan’s voice suits the romantic composition, and Baman-Chand’s arrangements are great, though heard before, especially the electronic tabla. Sukriti Kakar doesn’t do too well in the Female Version, and even the arrangements don’t support her, being the usual boring arrangements used for such songs.

With the fourth instalment in this series (fifth if you count ‘Wajah Tum Ho’), it is evident that T-Series, who seem to have been making the films only for the music, might stop making the films soon, because the music is certainly going down…!

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is a Bollywood comedy film starring Kartik Aaryan, Sunny Singh and Nushrat Bharucha in lead roles. The film is directed by Luv Ranjan, and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg. The film’s “success” (by which I only mean box office success) can be attributed to the hit music the album featured, by artists like Yo Yo Honey Singh (who is back after a long break), Rochak Kohli, Amaal Mallik, Zack Knight, Guru Randhawa and debutants Saurabh-Vaibhav. Let’s jump right into my review because there’s not much to say, three weeks after the film released! 😂

Yo Yo Honey Singh, after an I-don’t-know-how-long hiatus returns to Bollywood, with this album. What a surprise T-Series gives him only remakes to handle. And surprisingly, he too, handles them with care! Dil Chori, remake of Anand Raaj Anand composed and Hans Raj Hans sung pop single ‘Dil Chori Sada Ho Gaya’, becomes a catchy party number, and since the original song itself featured the words nasha and talli, Honey Singh needs no extra efforts in structuring his rap all around daaru. But the digital dhol rhythm really makes it lively. The female vocalist Simar Kaur also does well in a Kaala Doreya-esque cameo. It took a long time to grow on me though. His other song Chhote Chhote Peg is a remake of Anand Raaj Anand composed, Hans Raj Hans sung Bollywood Song ‘Tote Tote’ (Bichchoo), and this song too, sounds better than the original, if not good. The song is an ugly mishmash of a weird Neha Kakkar line that doesn’t match at all with the hook of the old song, though Navraj Hans sings the new hook better than his father had in the old song. Also, these lyrics fit into the tune more than “Tote Tote Ho Gaya Dil Tote Tote Ho Gaya“. 😆 Bt that doesn’t mean the lyrics themselves are exceptional — they’re quite the opposite. And they’re by people who call themselves weird names like Oye Sheraa and Singhsta. Again, Honey Singh steals the show with arrangements only. The trap music is catchy, as are the other techno sounds used. I can’t really say either of his songs are bad as such, but they’re just not good either.
Amaal Mallik returns with another ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ but this time it has tropical house vibes. Also this time the “Sooraj Dooba Hai” actually happens Subah Subah. 😂 Arijit doesn’t sound as fresh as he sounded in ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’, probably because he sang so many such songs after that. And Prakriti sounds functional, but then nobody else could’ve sung her parts better, either. Overall, a good song, but could have been better.
The next song is by a composer who is quite on the rise these days, Guru Randhawa, being helped by T-Series to get his songs into any movie where there’s the scope of a clubbish number with Punjabi lyrics. Of course, ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety’ was the obvious film that his song Kaun Nachdi was made for. The Punjabi sound is merged well with the electronic sound, giving it a fresh and enjoyable groove. The surprise element here is Neeti Mohan, getting back to back songs, where she aces her portions with amazing vocals. Her high-pitched voice sounds so good! And Guru himself sings and writes the song entertainingly, befitting to the movie’s theme.
Rochak Kohli, another composer who seems to be getting a lot of movies one after the other, but still hasn’t done a complete album (at least as far as I can recall), enters the album next, with two songs that are quite templatised with respect to the sound they carry. Lakk Mera Hit is a typical Punjabi ladies’ sangeet number, with Sukriti Kakar not doing her best behind the mic, but Rochak’s arrangements are entertaining, even though they have nothing new in them. The composition is such a heard-before one, it is hard to like it, especially in 2018.Tera Yaar Hoon Main fares better, the melancholia channeled this time not for a breakup between lovers, but for a rift between best friends. The lyrics here (Kumaar) are the best lyrics of any song on the album, obviously, and Arijit delivers yet another beautiful rendition. The composition, though again not very fresh, does create an impact with its stretched notes and abrupt hookline. The Punjabi intermission towards the end was unexpected, but amazing. The arrangements are soulful, with great use of guitar and piano.
The seemingly debutant duo Saurabh-Vaibhav come up with a song tailor-made for Mika, Sweety Slowly Slowly, but I must say, the song itself isn’t bad. Though Mika, as is his habit, eats up half of each word in the lyrics, the entertaining composition coupled with the nice groovy beats makes for an entertaining but situational listen! I don’t understand why Mika drops the “z” from “badtameez“, the “se” from “Please” and so on, in the antara, though!
Probably the grooviest of the groovy numbers is what I’ve saved for the end — Bom Diggy Diggy. Now, this isn’t the kind of song I usually like. But I’ve got to admit, Zack Knight has churned up something really catchy here! Sounding a lot like those English pop songs until the Punjabi/Rajasthani interruption in the middle, the song really holds your attention from the initial harmonium portion. Of course, T-Series must’ve had to buy rights to Zack Knight’s single from 2017 ‘Bom Diggy’, but it has turned out to be worth the deal. Jasmin Walia’s voice is cute, despite the numerous mispronunciations.

Overall, this is an album full of club numbers, each one different from the rest, but it is the soulful song that stands out of the bunch of club songs, and a well-made club song adapted from a pop song by an independent artist, steals the show.

The Important Announcement

Due to the scarcity of time, from now on, I will sum up the entire month’s reviews in a set of two articles each month, one usually around the 15th of the month and the other towards the end. Of course, certain albums that I feel need a separate post (either because they might have many songs, or be spectacular albums, or even if the movies are highly awaited ones) I will do so for those albums. I will reveal the chosen album for this month — it’ll be “Secret Superstar” — I don’t guarantee it’ll be rated very high, but because of the buzz surrounding it, it requires a separate post, I feel! Meanwhile, the usual monthly awards posts will sum everything up once again at the end of every month in the form of awards. I really hope this format helps me balance my schedule! And I can’t wait to return to my normal long posts — till then enjoy your luck of getting to read short reviews from my side!!

October 2017 Round-Up

So this post will cover the reviews for the all but two of October releases that have already released — ‘Chef’ by Raghu Dixit & Amaal Mallik, ‘Tu Hai Mera Sunday’ by Amartya Rahut (Bobo), ‘Ranchi Diaries’ by Nickk, Jeet Gannguli, Tony Kakkar & Bobby-Imran, ‘Golmaal Again’ by Amaal Mallik, Thaman S., Lijo George-DJ Chetas & Abhishek Arora, and ‘Jia Aur Jia’ by Sachin Gupta, Nisschal Zaveri & Sameer Nichani. There will be separate reviews for ‘Secret Superstar’ and ‘Rukh’, both by Amit Trivedi.

Raghu Dixit starts off the album with Shugal Laga Le, a song having a heavy folk influence from Kerala. The backing vocalists provide that freshness associated with Kerala, and Raghu’s characteristic voice makes it all the more intriguing to listen to. In his arrangements too, he adds a dash of everything, and especially those percussions are mind blowing, along with the banjo. Ankur’s lyrics made me acquainted with a new phrase “Shugal Laga Le” meaning “find a hobby, or find something to do”. The next song by him is also reliant on folk music, this time Celtic/Irish. Banjaara is steeped heavily on the beautiful flutes that characterise Irish music, with amazing percussion and backing vocals yet again. Vishal Dadlani does great justice to the sing with those power-packed vocals. The song is one of those many motivational songs that Vishal gets to sing in Bollywood, except that this time, it has a whole new style to it. The mellow Darmiyaan, exudes a positivity in spite of the fact that it is a sad song — mostly because of Raghu’s ebullience. A splendid guitar backdrop makes it simple and sweet, and Raghu’s diction has to be lauded. Raghu takes forth the melancholia in a more Bollywood-ish way in Khoya Khoya, which I rank as the best of the album — underrated Shahid Mallya taking charge of the vocals in a very beautiful way, and Dixit’s composition has that old-world-charm to it. The sarangi is quite impressive here! The alternative rock set up will make this one loveable to many! Raghu’s last song on the album is the effervescent Tan Tan, rendered with spunk by Nikhita Gandhi, the only female vocalist on the album. In her texture, she gives off vibes of Shalmali and Shefali. Guest composer Amaal Mallik, whose song Tere Mere was also removed from the album later, produces a song you can immediately tell is by him. That doesn’t make its richness diluted, though — it’s still wonderful, with the nice dholak rhythm accompanying Armaan Malik’s beautiful voice. Also, Rashmi-Virag’s lyrics are amazing!
All in all, Chef is one of the best albums of the year in that it is a clever mix of melancholia, inspiration and romance. Raghu Dixit must sign more and more Bollywood films — I firmly believe that this is his best Bollywood album yet!

Total Points Scored by This Album (in the order mentioned in the review): 4 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 4.5 + 4 = 26.5

Out of Arijit’s two songs, the classically-steeped sad song Dhundlo Tum fares better, with an addictive strings orchestra accompanying it, and it quickly steers away from the Bhatt-ish genre that it starts off with. Had that continued, it wouldn’t have been half as good. The digital Sitar is beautiful. His other song, Thodi Si Jagah, is also classical-based for some initial parts, before it turns into an upbeat number that loses itself halfway through the song. The rock backdrop ofthe hook line couldn’t have been more clichéd. Arijit’s vocal prowess is clearly showcased in the song though. It is Amartya’s violin solo that impresses though, with its distinct classical tune. The title song, Tu Hai Mera Sunday, takes a pleasant Christmassy turn, with soft jazz making your ears happy. Shalmali renders it with a familiarity that makes you feel amazing. The brass portions have been done really well here, as are the drums. The clarinet and piano is wonderful too. It is nothing more than the lyrics that make it sound even more personal though. Ash King’s Yeh Mera Manis a pleasant departure from his previous song ‘Bandook Meri Laila’ (A Gentleman) and brings him back to his comfort zone. Again, a jazzy tune gives the song a kind of spring, and that whistle portion is so pleasantly surprising and charming, it is hard to dislike. The guitars are impressive here. Yeh Jo Pyaar Hai, a clubbish number sung by Nandini Srikar, is probably the weakest of the album, where the tune and the arrangement are just mismatched; the hookline sounds like this song was pitched for the situation of ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ (Don) before ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ was finalised.Amartya’s best album to date provides us with a nice mix of classical music, jazz music and a banal club number! This album will go highly underrated and unnoticed though!

Total Points Scored by This Album (in order mentioned in the review): 4.5 + 4 + 4 + 3.5 + 3 = 19

Some newcomer Nickk is — he has just been made to make another ‘Baby Doll’, now that Meet Bros. just be refusing to do it. However, Fashion Queen has something in addition to the usual ‘Baby Doll’ sequels — an Arabic strings backdrop that just helps it as much as a car can help you fly. The new singer Raahi seems disillusioned with the ideals that it is okay to sing like Kanika Kapoor if you aren’t her. The composer’s rap is dumb. Helicopter‘s lyricist and composer Tony Kakkar uses the word ‘helicopter’ as a metaphor for ‘getting high’. 😶 Siblings Tony and Neha render it with as much mediocrity as they can muster. I can’t believe Tony is the same guy behind ‘Saawan Aaya Hai’ (Creature 3D) and ‘Khuda Bhi’ (Ek Paheli Leela), but then he has made ‘Ek Do Teen Chaar’ (Ek Paheli Leela) and ‘Do Peg Maar’ (One Night Stand). Jeet Gannguli’s Thoda Aur is the composer’s usual pathos-filled romantic number — you would think that after a year-long break, he would return with something pleasant. But it is the same old Arijit-Palak love story. And the irony is that this song sounds like ‘Saawan Aaya Hai’ (Creature 3D). So did Tony help him here instead of making his own song better? 😏 The last song is a banal Mika solo Godfather, composed by Pritam’s former assistants Bobby-Imran, which I couldn’t even finish once when I started to listen to it.This is a Hodge-podge of the worst songs from the weirdest mix of composers ever.

The album to the much-awaited fourth instalment to the ‘Golmaal’ series starts with the Title Track, where South film composer Thaman S. is called in just to do that clichéd Kuthu rhythm we are all bored of. Brijesh Shandilya does well as the lead male singer, but Aditi Singh Sharma sounds utterly replaceable. She gets another song, Itna Sannata Kyun Hai, composed by Lijo George and DJ Chetas, where her part towers over her male co-singer Amit Mishra’s parts. The hookline is like a desperate scream in our ears, to make noise. The EDM after the hookline is so bad, I can’t describe it. Amaal Mallik, lead composer, gets two songs, where one is obviously a 90s remake. ‘Neend Churayi Meri’ (Ishq) is the privileged song, named by the company as Maine Tujhko Dekha. The song’s best part is that Neeraj Sridhar returns after a long time to sing a song that is tailor-made for his song. Sukriti Kakar complements him well, but the song is better as an individual song than it is as a remake. Had the hookline been original, it would have been amazing! Amaal’s second song happens to be the album’s best — Hum Nahi Sudhrenge gives those rays of positivity like ‘Apna Har Din’ did in ‘Golmaal 3’. Though the song is similar to Amaal’s other EDM numbers like “Sooraj Dooba Hai”, “Buddhu Sa Mann” and “Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main”, it works well because of its positivity and Armaan yet again sings charmingly! What Saregama holds of the album is an unplugged, slow-paced version of ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’s Aate Jaate Hanste Gaate, sung very simply by Nikhil D’Souza and Anushka Manchanda, and arranged soothingly by Abhishek Arora (of Abhishek-Akshay) and Samyuktha Narendran. It doesn’t work too much though, in spite of not changing much from the old song.The worst Golmaal album is held up solely by Amaal’s songs (or song).

The songs by Sachin Gupta start off the album, and though they do not impress you immediately, you do get attuned to them on hearing them for a couple of times. Na Shukre is a wild rock song about carefree girls, and Smita Malhotra makes a rocking debut with her vocals in this, the rock guitars played wonderfully. Shivani Bhayana’s Naach Basanti, on the other hand, is a bit too rowdy to go with its amazing club arrangements, but apparently by the lyrics, it is supposed to be some sort of an ode to “Sholay”. Many of the small additions by Gupta in this song happen to catch your attention, like the techno sounds at the beginning, and the folksy portion at the end.
The newcomer composer, Nisschal Zaveri, steps in for the rest of the songs (with lyrics) and I must say, he does quite an amazing job in his first album itself. His lullaby-ish, classical-based Na Jaa appears in two versions, one in Asees Kaur’s voice, with a stark resemblance to her singing in ‘Kaari Kaari’ (Dobaara), while the other is in Nandini Srikar’s voice. Obviously, Nandini’s version wins my heart because of her seasoned voice and more classically inclined singing. The Tabla in this song has to be mentioned, as do the strings, guitars and mandolin. The arrangements overpower the voice of Asees in her version, another drawback of that version. Nandini’s version has everything that the music buff longs for in a good song.
Zaveri’s other song, released by Saregama, is a reprise of Shankar-Jaikishan-Mohd. Rafi classic Jia O Jia, and is an apt remake of the song, with an upbeat clubbish sound, one of the freshest remakes I’ve heard this year. The song feels like a splash of water on your face — despite being a remake, Zaveri uses his creativity to make it a bit unconventional, without being bogged down by the thought of what’s popular these days. The synth has been used amazingly, and the backing chorus singing “Jia O” after every hook is just sweet! Jyotica sounds amazing in this song, the least she has sounded like Neha Kakkar ever! But Rashid Ali, being heard after a long time, falls flat due to the excessive programming done to his voice. The Latino turn of sound midway into the song takes time to get used to, but is awesome!
The background score composer for the film, Sameer Nichani, gets one of his instrumental pieces added to the album, and it is called Jia Aur Jia Theme, and is heavy on Spanish guitars, played in a very sensuous way. It is extremely short at one and a half minute, but soothes your senses for all its worth.A hidden gem of an album, wherein we find a new composer who must get many, many more songs in Bollywood!! Zaveri scores higher than Gupta here.

Remake Counter:

I hope that wasn’t too long (though I know it was) but this is what I’m going to have to do until I am a bit more free. I personally liked this method of reviewing and don’t mind continuing it forever too! So maybe, just maybe, you might get the “Secret Superstar” and “Rukh” reviews in this format too, but in separate posts and not clubbed together! Lets see! Till then, enjoy music! 😉

Poster Boys is an upcoming satirical Bollywood film, starring Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Shreyas Talpade in lead roles. The film is an official remake of Shreyas-directed Marathi film ‘Poshter Boyz’, and is also directed by Shreyas Talpade himself. The film is produced by Sunny Sounds Pvt. Ltd., Shreyas Talpade and Deepti Talpade. The film revolves around three men who suffer humiliation in their village when they appear on an advertisement for vasectomy, without their knowledge or permission. The film seems like a comic caper, at the same time trying to create awareness about this. The music, which I actually expect to be bad, just because this film seems like one of those films where music plays a minuscule role, is by four composer entities. Remake master Tanishk Bagchi comes back with a remake here, while Rishi Rich gets to compose an original. The album also serves as the debut vehicle for three new composers, a duo, Sunai Marathe & Shreyas Iyengar, and an individual, Sonny Ravan. So let’s see how this album with half its songs by known personalities, and half by newcomers, fares!

1. Kudiyan Shehar Diyan

So T-Series messes up with credits again — the old song ‘Kudiya Shehar Di’ (Arjun Pandit; 1999) which this song is a remake of, was credited to Dilip and Sameer Sen, but now they credit Daler Mehndi as its composer! Anyway, Tanishk (the go-to recreator these days) tries to infuse more life into the already lifeless and staid Punjabi number (or so I personally feel), by giving it a better mixed dhol arrangement, and having Neha Kakkar sing the female parts. But replacing one screechy singer (Alka Yagnik in the original) with another screechy singer, is not too wise! The only energy in the song is because of Mehndi’s amazing singing. Tanishk hasn’t actually newly composed anything; the song is just permutation and combination of the parts in the old song. Lyrics are functional, nothing great. An okayish remake of an okayish song.

Rating: 2.5/5

2. Kendhi Menoo

Rishi Rich is in charge of the next song: a nice hip hop number with a peppy and groovy beat that instantly has you hooked. The composition too, is quite catchy. Especially the hookline’s tune. The antara isn’t great, but good enough to go with the amazing beats. The arrangements are the highlight of the song, and those trumpet sounds are some of the best beats in a Bollywood hip-hop song this year. That being said, it isn’t like the song is extraordinary either, just surprisingly good enough and compared to the others in the album, it is a masterpiece. The vocals are nice too, with Yash Narvekar and Sukriti carrying the hip-hop vibe very well. I wish Sukriti wouldn’t mumble though. Ikka’s rap is good too! The lyrics are understandably ordinary. A good hip-hop number with a groovy “Rishi Rich beat”.

Rating: 3.5/5

3. Noor-E-Khuda

This song is the typical Bollywood sad Qawwali, which gets played in movies whenever things are going wrong. Usually it’s Sukhwinder Singh or Kailash Kher singing these Qawwalis, and sure enough, here, the newcomer duo, Sunai Marathe & Shreyas Iyengar, present the song in Kher’s voice. The composition itself is very maudlin and typically dramatic. The roopak rhythm, as overused as it is, sounds very heavy here, and I am beginning to feel like it should be used less often now! The tablas and claps too, are very typical — nothing new. The lyrics are good as they should be, but again, very typical. Kailash Kher has the tendency to bore in such songs, but here it’s everything else that draws you away from the song.

Rating: 2/5

4. The Posterboys Anthem

Singer ~ Shree D, Music by ~ Sonny Ravan, Lyrics by ~ Sonny Ravan

Now the second debutant gets to end the album with something called the “Poster Boys Anthem”, and I must say, it is quite a tedious anthem. And also one of the saddest debuts I’ve seen. The composition is dead, and seems like someone who doesn’t know much about what it takes to make a good song, came out and composed a song for an everyday morcha, and decided to use it here. I don’t even know where this kind of a song would fit as the theme song to a satire as this. The vocals are so bad, it’s unbelievable. SKIP!

Rating: 0.5/5

Poster Boys is yet another bad multicomposer album. It pains us reviewers when our point is proved that the multicomposer trend is slowly corroding the quality of music. Well, actually, the trend isn’t to blame here. The makers could’ve gone for more established and seasoned artists, who would’ve composed some good music!!

Toilet – Ek Prem Katha is an upcoming Bollywood satire, starring Alshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Divyendu Sharma and Anupam Kher, directed by Shree Narayan Singh, and produced by Aruna Bhatia, Shital Bhatia, Abundantia, Viacom Motion Pictures, Arjun N. Kapoor and Hitesh Thakkar. The film comes in support of PM Modi’s ‘Swacchh Bharat Abhiyaan’ by raising fingers at the issue of open defecation, prevalent in remote and underdeveloped parts of the country. Now it is a really good topic, but somehow, by the trailer and promos, I am not sure whether it will be carried out in a humorous way without looking dramatic. Anyway, the music, very surprisingly, has been scored by three debutant music composers, two duos and one individual. Vickey Prasad, Manas-Shikhar and Sachet-Parampara are the five lucky people who got to debut in Bollywood with an Akshay Kumar album, and how wonderful an opportunity is that!! I hope they make great use of it though, and provide us with a nice and clean ‘Toilet’! {Sorry for the desperate joke!}

1. Hans Mat Pagli

Singers ~ Sonu Nigam & Shreya Ghoshal, Music by ~ Vickey Prasad

The first newcomer starts off the album with a cute romantic song which sends off a great rural-setting vibe. The song’s composition is nothing innovative as such, but it still manages to hook the listeners, since it is so cute and such a throwback to Bollywood of the 90s. The only grouse I have with the composition is that the hookline sounds a lot like the antara of ‘Pardesi Pardesi’ (Raja Hindustani), which would be where the 90s vibes are coming from. The song is structured quite oddly, with a male mukhda, a male antara, and then a female mukhda followed by a female antara. Why couldn’t they just club the mukhdas together and the antaras together? That way, the listener would get some variation from male to female and then back to a male voice. Anyway, as they wish. The composition for all these stanzas is very cute again. The recording seems a bit faulty and raw, but that’s probably deliberate? The arrangements are again, not anything new or innovative, but that soft Qawwali setting to the hookline gives a soothing feeling, and the dholaks have been played beautifully, as are the plucked string instruments throughout the song, and the guitar itself. There is a wonderful rapid tabla piece before Sonu sings his antara. The rhythm is heard before, but the cuteness of the composition helps you listen to such a rhythm yet again without complaining. The vocals send you back to 2005-2007, when Sonu-Shreya duets were the thing. Every director wanted a Sonu-Shreya duet in their film; sadly, nowadays, that happens only in films where the director knows only about the old singers, and hence his music ends up sounding outdated. But here, there is no datedness whatsoever. It is more like a nostalgia. Both singers do an amazing job, though I somewhere thought that Shreya was struggling with such a high-pitched line in the antara. Siddharth-Garima choose the perfect line for the hookline; it increases the cuteness quotient of the song. The rest of the lyrics are cute too, but not too innovative. A good song to start the album with, but it has its own faults.Rating: 4/5

2. Bakheda

Vickey has the second song to his credit as well, making him the main composer on this album. This song takes a more lively route, but stays a romantic song. As soon as it starts, the folksy vibe hits you, and you are also relieved that Vickey has used a more modern recording style for this one; it proves that the recording was deliberately done that way for the previous song. The composition is a lively one, but the hookline is really a letdown — it is so staid and bland. Also, we have heard such a hook so many times where the mukhda builds up to it, and then after a pause, the hookline takes the song forward. The antaras are very well composed. Sukhwinder, at his usual energetic self, renders the song with ease, and creates a good impact on the listeners. The problem lies in Sunidhi’s vocals, which seem less energetic as usual. It really sounds like she wasn’t interested, or maybe the pitch was too low. That makes her portion sound very odd, despite the beautiful composition of the antara. The arrangements are lively folksy arrangements with the percussion leading, and a nice plucked instrument entertaining throughout. A sarangi can also be made out occasionally. The percussion is the star of the song though. Siddharth-Garima, again, write an effective song to go with the film, but the impact of the lyrics doesn’t reach the audience out of the film. A functional song, but won’t really stay with you for long.Rating: 3/5

3. Gori Tu Latth Maar

The Rahman vibe hits you as soon as this one starts with the beautiful chimey music at the beginning. Manas-Shikhar, another debutant duo, enter the album with this song, and with only one song to prove their worth, they seize the opportunity and let me tell you, they make the best use of it, better than both of the other composer teams on this album! They employ a very lively setting to a supposed-to-be sad song. It is the festival of Holi, but of course, Bhumi Pednekar’s character is mad at Akshay’s character, because of we know what! So this is a situational song, in which Akshay pleads to her for forgiving him. Against the backdrop of a Holi song, a very emotional song, and I’ve heard something like this for the first time. Siddharth-Garima’s lyrics reveal all the emotion in the best way possible. Now let’s go back to Manas-Shikhar’s music. Their composition is just so catchy, especially the mukhda, which should be catchy in order to hook the listeners right away. It sounds like something straight out of a Rahman song. The hookline also succeeds in being a very beautiful, and catchy line. The antara is the female part of the song, and it has a very beautiful tune as well, which will remind you of the 90s songs, that used to slow down in the middle for the female parts. There’s a nice tempo-rise towards the end, in which we hear the already popular “Radhe Radhe” chorus. Sonu Nigam renders the tune with such brilliance, knowing when to emote which emotion, and wonderful aalaaps. Palak too, sings beautifully, and the brilliant composition of her portion helps her do that wonderfully. The arrangements are ever fluctuating, with the emotional and soft sound from the mukhda alternating with the usual Holi sound of the dholaks and other percussions. The shehnaai is played in a very beautiful tune. Those bells at the beginning are the most beautiful though. A wholesome song that defines what Bollywood is all about — colour, festivity, emotion and dance! Oh, and congratulations to Manas-Shikhar for a smashing debut!Rating: 5/5

4. Subha Ki Train

The last of the debutants bring up the finale of the album, which happens to be yet another cute romantic song. This one is a little less folksy than the others, but it does have the effect that it should. Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur have composed a lilting melody, that, though situational, and very predictable, still makes you smile and feel good. The prelude gave off some vibes of “Tere Sang Yaara” (Rustom). The mukhda is very sweet and simple, and instantly grabs your attention. The letdown here is the hook, which is as staid and heard-before as imaginable. But the antara is mind-blowing; especially the second line of it. The arrangements too, follow a very simple template, with that cute Duff rhythm, and in a wonderful second interlude, the flutes assortment and strings orchestra just mystifies. The first interlude with the mouth organ is splendid too. Sachet and Parampara handle the vocals themselves, and strangely enough, employ Rituraj Mohanty and Sukriti Kakar as backing vocalists for the aalaaps. Parampara’s is a voice to look out for, while Sachet’s voice just blends in with the multitude of new male voices we have in Bollywood, other than Arijit. 😅 Again, Siddharth-Garima stick to situational yet catchy lyrics; the hook lyrics made me smile. A good finale, and a promising debut, but not a song that will stay in my head for more than a month. Rating: 3.5/5

Toilet – Ek Prem Katha is an album just like Akshay Kumar movie albums usually are — fun, vibrant and groovy, but with an overbearing romantic theme. What makes it even more special is that all the composers are debutants and it is commendable of the makers to have accepted the three for a film which will reach so many people! Seizing the opportunity, all three newcomers do a good job, and especially Manas-Shikhar do an amazing one. The album is a triple-debut treat!!

Mubarakan is an upcoming Bollywood romantic comedy of errors starring Arjun Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, Athiya Shetty and Ratna Pathak Shah in the lead roles. The film is directed by the only director in Bollywood who still insists on doing comedies with a cast larger than a herd of cows, Anees Bazmee and produced by Ashwin Varde, Murad Khetani and Balwinder Singh Janjua. The film’s plot consists of such never-before-tried aspects like — double roles, a love quadrangle, a huge Punjabi family and Punjabi dance numbers. It is going to redefine Bollywood, I’m sure of it. 😏 If you didn’t get that sarcasm, moving on. The music is by T-Series, and that means multiple composers. Thankfully, one name out of the three composers, is a relief, it being the name of Amaal Mallik, the young composer proving his mettle out there. He gets two, upbeat dance tracks, so I hope those are catchy! The next two composers are Gourov-Roshin, returning after treating us to a small break from their remakes, and sadly they have three songs, and Rishi Rich with Yash Anand, who have composed the title song of the film. Let’s just get this over with, eh?

1. The Goggle Song

A wedding song to start the album, this one is an enjoyable tune from Amaal. Not the best he can do for sure, but it still makes you groove to the beat. The beat itself is infectious, with the composer adding quirky sound effects making it sound better. The ensemble of singers does really well for a wedding song, and for once, Tulsi sounds better than Neeti. The lyrics are mediocre, but hilarious at times. A good wedding track, but not very innovative.Rating: 3.5/5

2. Mubarakan (Title Track)

“This is the Rishi Rich beat.” The song starts with this obvious statement, and an unexpected incorporation of some portions ‘Yamma Yamma’ (Shaan). The actual composition falls flat, but it is saved by R.D. Burman’s old song, which plays throughout, and its addition was quite creative. Vocals are horrible. Lyrics are horrible. Rap is horrible. Arrangements are not so horrible. (Mostly, it is the awesome oud from the old song). In short, a horrible song, but for the arrangements and the old song’s portions.
P.S. I wouldn’t call this a Remake as such.Rating: 2.5/5 (0.5 bonus for using that old song wisely)

3. Jatt Jaguar

Another typical Punjabi song, the Punjabi flavour accentuated even more by a mediocre composition that barely manages to grasp your attention, except at the hook. Even Vishal doesn’t sound as energetic as always, but Navraj does. Lyrics are typical. Arrangements are typical, but there are traces Amaal’s digital quirks. At many places the tune seems like some old song I can’t recall! 😥 Not the best Amaal can do.Rating: 2.5/5

4. Haathon Mein Thhe Haath

A typical Pakistani pop-esque song follows, and it immediately strikes me as Papon’s worst song after a long, long time. The composition is staid and clichéd, his vocals do not help at all. Aditi sounds over stylish as usual. Those typical digital beats add to the melancholia. Backing vocalists add to the staleness, especially the Sufi one. Lyrics are something you won’t even notice. A song that clearly doesn’t know where it belongs.Rating: 2.5/5

5. Hawa Hawa

The hit Pakistani pop song remade, with a typppppical kuthu beat and rhythm! Mika singing increases the headache, and the new composition is just unbearable. The hookline is good, but the other parts fall flat. The female vocals by Prakriti sound good though. Lyrics belong to a Sajid-Wajid soundtrack. Why????Rating: 2.5/5

6. Dil Dhadke Louder Louder

Another Punjabi folksy song ends the album, this time a mélange of two Punjabi folk songs, ‘Kala Doriya’ and ‘Baari Barsi’. The composition doesn’t hook you at all; in fact it sounds like ‘Jatt Jaguar Part 2’. The new singer Rinku Giri is the typical Punjabi male singer affair, he sounds like Diljit Dosanjh. Arrangements are “louder louder”. Lyrics are typical. A song that relies on folk songs to propel it, but fails.Rating: 2/5

Mubarakan is yet another feather in Bollywood’s cap of Punjabi albums. All of the songs are very staid, heard-before ones, that don’t really help generate any interest. Amaal does okayish in one song, but showcases his quirk in the other. The others perform subpar, with the exception of Rishi Rich, who has made quite a catchy song. But even with its catchiness I couldn’t rate it higher than 2.5. So, for anyone counting, Mubarakan! Another flop album has been born!

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